A firefighter’s perspective - specialized tools
Fire departments have unique training and specialized tools to respond to emergency situations other than fires such as motor vehicle incidents. In the event of a serious motor vehicle incident, firefighters are responsible for making the scene safe and rescuing the patient. This can be a challenge. Car crashes can occur at all times of the day or night and are more likely to occur in rainy or icy conditions. Vehicles may be on their side or down an embankment or both. In order to access the patient, we have to first stabilize the vehicle and get inside. For this we use such tools as air bags, stabilization struts, hydraulic spreaders, cutters and rams. We have to train to become versatile with our equipment because no two emergency scenes present the same challenges.
To train with theses tools we need a vehicle to work on so we can actually use the tools in a real life simulation. If a newer firefighter is being trained on the tools, direct supervision is needed as the tools can be very dangerous. These tools produce 16,000 to 60,000 pounds of force depending on the tool and this force can be transferred to the firefighter’s body if not used properly. A typical training night would consist of disassembling a vehicle as if we were attempting to gain access to a patient. We remove doors and roofs by using the tools in a combination of cutting and spreading. By the end of the night there is not much left of the vehicle and it is ready to be recycled at a scrap yard. The fire department relies on public donations of old vehicles for this purpose.
This is one example of how fire departments do much more than fight fires and modern technology requires specialized training to perform these tasks in a safe manner.